The Sarooshi Typology And The Sub Conferral And Exercise Of Powers Between Intergovernmental Organizations

[Truncated] With the spread of globalization, States recognized the necessity of increased cooperation and coordination of global activities, and have used intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) increasingly, as a means of cooperating internationally. In his book International Organizations and their Exercise of Sovereign Powers1, Professor Dan Sarooshi, proposed a Typology (the Sarooshi Typology), which classified the types of conferrals of powers from States to IGOs on a continuum, with each of the categories characterised according to three elements, namely the ability or lack of ability of conferror States to revoke the conferred powers, whether States have direct control over the IGOs' exercise of the conferred powers, and whether the States may exercise the conferred powers concurrently with the IGOs. The categories relate to different degrees of conferrals of powers, and reflect the degree of sovereign contestation between the States and IGOs. On one end of the continuum are agency relationships, through delegations of powers, with transfers of powers on the other end. There are accordingly, consequences that may occur as a result of these conferrals of powers, such as the incurrence of fiduciary duties and the attribution of responsibility to conferror States for the wrongful acts of conferee IGOs. Consequently, the Sarooshi Typology can be useful in the identification, classification and analysis of the type of powers conferred on IGOs, and can help in understanding better the legal relationships between States and IGOs.